Image forming apparatuses are devised to form an image on a printing medium based on input signals. Examples of image forming apparatuses may include, printers, copiers, facsimiles, and so-called multi-functional devices that combine some of the functionalities of the aforementioned devices.
In an electro-photographic image forming apparatus, which is one broad type of image forming apparatus, light is irradiated to a photoconductor that had been charged to a uniform electrical potential so as to form an electrostatic latent image on the basis of potential differences on the surface of the photoconductor. The electrostatic latent image is developed into a visible image by application of developer thereto from a developer feed device. The visible image so created is then transferred from the surface of the photoconductor to a printing medium either directly or in some instances indirectly through an intermediate transfer device. The image transferred to the printing medium is fixed to the printing medium via a fusing process. Prior to uniformly charging the photoconductor again to start the process of formation of the subsequent image, a charge eliminator may typically be used to remove the residual electrical potential remaining after the preceding image forming operations.
A general charge eliminator may include a light source, which may be provided as an array of a plurality of point light sources, and a light guide member to guide light generated from the light source to the photoconductor. However, in order to realize a sufficient uniformity in the light across the irradiated portion of the photoconductor, conventional charge eliminators could require a large number of point light sources.